Sleeping Bear Dunes Talking Rocks Cavern Lower Peninsula, Michigan Stone County, Missouri

Effigy Mounds National Monument Clayton County, Iowa

Mount Rushmore Downtown TD Ameritrade Park Keystone, South Dakota Chicago, Illinois Omaha, Nebraska

Page | 1 ©Copyright 2020, The Teacher Writing Center, a division of SG Consulting, Inc. Grammar Gallery Spring Break Program, www.grammargallery.org. Permission to use for non-profit, educational purposes only. Welcome Grammar Gallery Travelers!

I’m so glad you decided to join me on a tour of the Midwest. This is a picture of my daughter and me at TD Ameritrade Park, the home of the College World Series, in Omaha, Nebraska. During this virtual vacation, we’ll explore many interesting sites in the Midwest region of the United States. We’ll also learn about the language spoken in the Midwest and across the United States—ENGLISH! Pay close attention to the “Let’s Look at the Language” boxes. When our trip is over, you’ll have a chance to earn vacation points when you answer questions about what you read.

Have fun!

Jennifer, Grammar Gallery Tour Guide

 The Gateway Arch Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, in St. Louis, Missouri Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota

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The Midwest is a region or part of the United States. Let’s Look at the Language The following 12 states, which are highlighted on the The word farming is used as a gerund in the map above, are in the Midwest region of the United text. A gerund is the –ing form of a verb that States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, is used as a noun. We use gerunds to name Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, things such as qualities, actions, and ideas. South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Gerunds can be subjects: Much of the land in the Midwest is flat or has small Fishing is popular in the Midwest. hills. The Midwest is the least mountainous part of the country. This is what makes it a great place for Gerunds can be objects: farming, the biggest economic activity in the Midwest. When I’m at Lake Darling, I enjoy relaxing.

Page | 3 ©Copyright 2020, The Teacher Writing Center, a division of SG Consulting, Inc. Grammar Gallery Spring Break Program, www.grammargallery.org. Permission to use for non-profit, educational purposes only. We are here, in downtown Chicago!

Wow, it is windy! No wonder Chicago is sometimes called the Let’s Look at the Language windy city. Chicago is the largest city in the Midwest region, and there are so many great things to do (and eat!) here. Do you like The words shown in green are called superlative adjectives. We pizza? Some people say Chicago has the best pizza in the world. use superlative adjectives to compare a person/group, place, or Avid readers will enjoy browsing Harold Washington Library, the thing with two or more other people/groups, places, or things. largest public library in the world. Animal lovers should head to Many superlatives are formed by adding –est or –st to the end of Lincoln Park Zoo. It was established in 1868 and is one of the the adjective: largest, oldest. If the adjective has more than two oldest zoos in the country. If photography is your thing, check out syllables and does not end with –y, we put the word most before The City Gallery, a place where local artists display their work. the adjective to make it a superlative: most popular. Some The Cloud Gate Sculpture, also known as “the bean,” is the most superlatives are irregular and do not follow any rules. For popular site in Millennium Park. It is made of 168 polished example, best is the superlative form of the adjective good. stainless steel plates. When you look at it up close, you can see the reflection of Chicago skyline. It’s a great place to take pictures!

Page | 4 ©Copyright 2020, The Teacher Writing Center, a division of SG Consulting, Inc. Grammar Gallery Spring Break Program, www.grammargallery.org. Permission to use for non-profit, educational purposes only. We are here, at Effigy Mounds National Monument!

This place is fascinating! You’ll find more than 200 prehistoric mounds built by Native Americans. Experts believe Native Americans built these mounds over a span of more than 2,000 years! Many of the mounds are effigy mounds. An effigy mound is a raised pile of earth—soil and Let’s Look at the Language dirt—that is built in the shape of an animal, symbol, or An adjective is a word that describes a noun—a person, place or figure. The most common mound shapes in this area are the thing. An adjective clause is a group of words that describes a noun. bear and the bird. The Effigy Mounds National Monument is The text shown in purple—whose ancestors built the nouns—is an located along the Mississippi River. Native American and adjective clause describing the noun Native Americans. This clause early settlers were drawn to this area because of all the natural resources found in the forests, wetlands, and gives additional information about the Native Americans being prairies. Effigy mounds can be found in several Midwestern discussed. They aren’t just any Native Americans. They are the states. The counties of Dubuque, Clayton, and Allamakee ancestors of the people who built the mounds. Adjective clauses contain most of the mounds in Iowa. Some Native Americans always begin with a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, that, which) whose ancestors built the mounds say they served as sites or a relative adverb (when, where). An adjective clause always follows for ceremonies and sacred events. the noun it is describing.

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We are here, at Sleeping Bear Dunes!

Sleeping Bear Dunes was once named “The Most Beautiful Place in America.” This area includes cliffs that are about 400 feet above Lake Michigan, miles of sandy beaches, forests, lakes, and spectacular plant and animal life. If you stand at the top of the dunes, you’ll have amazing views across Lake Michigan. In 1970, Congress officially recognized the importance of Sleeping Bear Dunes, passing a law that says: “…certain outstanding natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena … ought to be … protected from developments and uses which would destroy the scenic beauty and natural character of the area.” You’ll also find many historic farms in this area—more than 3,000 acres of farming area. This area still looks the way it looked in the early 1900s.

Let’s Look at the Language

An adverb describes or adds meaning to a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a phrase or sentence. An adverb can

indicate how, how much, when, where, or how frequently. Many adverbs are easy to recognize because they end with the letters –ly: officially. Specialized adverbs are words such as already, yet, still, and anymore. In the sentence above, the adverb still refers to something that began in the past, but continues into the present.

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Do any of you have claustrophobia—the fear of being closed in small spaces? If you do, you may want to skip the tour of Talking Rocks Cavern and walk through the nature preserve or play miniature golf instead. A cavern is a space underground that is big enough for people to enter. Cavern tours have been a tourist attraction in this area for more than 100 years. It used to be dangerous to tour some of the caverns, but it’s We are here, at Talking very safe today. Guests walk down concrete steps and through Rocks Cavern! pathways that give them a great view of the incredible rock formations. You’ll learn how the rocks were formed and about the minerals that help them grow. You’ll also see examples of the plant and animal life inside the Let’s Look at the Language cavern. There are several caverns to explore. Indian Creek The verb shown in green in the text—have been—is a present perfect verb. The present perfect Caverns is the longest cave in tense is a verb tense that tells you an action or condition has continued up to and including the southwest Missouri with more present time. We use the present perfect tense to talk about an action that has occurred up to and than 2 miles of passages. This including the present time, a past action that has importance right now, or an action that was tour takes 4-6 hours, and you recently completed. We form the past tense by using has/have + a past participle. For example: I will get muddy! have traveled through Missouri three times. I have seen the caverns, and they are amazing!

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Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don’t care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the home team. If they don’t win, it’s a shame. For it’s ONE, TWO, THREE strikes, you’re out, At the old ball game.

TD Ameritrade Park is a baseball park in Omaha, the largest city We are here, at TD in Nebraska. This park is home to the College World Series. The College World Series is an exciting baseball tournament that takes Ameritrade Park! place each June, so we’ll be able to catch a game while we’re here. The series has been played in Omaha since 1950, but it’s only been at this park for the last few years. Sometimes called "The Trade," this park is also the home of the Omaha Nighthawks, an American football team, and the Creighton University Bluejays baseball team. Batter up!

Let’s Look at the Language

Specialized prepositions such as for and since show relationships between concepts and objects that you cannot see or touch. In the text above, both of these prepositions are used to indicate an amount of time—since 1950, for the last few years.

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We are here, at Mount Rushmore National Memorial!

We’re in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Look at the top of that mountain. What do you see? No, you’re not imaging things. At the top of Let’s Look at the Language Mount Rushmore are carvings of the faces of four American presidents. A sculptor named Gutzon Borglum started working on this masterpiece The words we’re and you’re are called contractions. in 1927. It took 14 years to complete, and today it is considered a A contraction is a shortened form of a word or symbol of our great nation. Borglum chose each president for a reason. several words. An apostrophe (’) stands for the George Washington represents the birth of the nation. Thomas Jefferson letters that are left out of the word or words. The represents the growth of the country. Abraham Lincoln represents the contraction we’re combines the words we and are, preservation or saving of the United States. And Theodore Roosevelt and you’re combines the words you and are. represents the development of America. Each year around three million Contractions make English speaking and writing people come to admire this striking monument and the natural beauty sound more conversational and fluid. of the surrounding area.

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Attention Grammar Gallery Travelers!

There’s still a lot more to do and explore. What’s next?

TAKE A QUIZ. Click on the link below. You can test your knowledge AND impress your family.

www.grammargallery.org/mwquiz1.html

VISIT OTHER SITES IN THE MIDWEST. Check out links to other places in the Midwest that you can “visit.” There are also links to sites with more information about the places we explored together. Click here to get started.

WRITE A STORY ABOUT THE MIDWEST. We are looking for student authors! Can you write a story about one of the places you visited in the Midwest? It can be a made-up story, a story with facts, or a story that combines facts with made-up characters and events. Click here to submit your story.

Thank you so much for traveling with us to the Midwest!

Page | 10 ©Copyright 2020, The Teacher Writing Center, a division of SG Consulting, Inc. Grammar Gallery Spring Break Program, www.grammargallery.org. Permission to use for non-profit, educational purposes only. Photo Credits

Page 1

Dean Franklin (Mount Rushmore)

Rklawton (Talking Rocks Cavern)

Skinzfan23 (TD Ameritrade Park)

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Mindfrieze (Chicago)

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© National Park Service (aerial view of mounds)

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Skinzfan23 (TD Ameritrade Park)

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Bbadgett (Mount Rushmore)

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